- Playing today's games in a thousand years - 22 September 2018
Ask a young adult today what a floppy disk is and you'll likely earn puzzled silence. To them, they are ancient artefacts. Demonstrate an "old" game (say, from around 2000) to a kid today, and they might look at it with disbelieving curiosity. Did games really look like that, once upon a time, in the unfathomable recesses of antiquity? Similarly, to me, 30 years old, games of the early 90s (and the machines that run them) already exude a certain alien primitivity. Revisiting them several decades after their prime with a historian's curiosity is as fascinating as it is frustrating: it's easy to bounce off old games and their archaic workings. The advance and change of technology is rapid, and, as many have pointed out, presents daunting problems regarding the preservation of older games. But there are other issues that may be less urgent, issues that are just as real. Let's assume for th…
- The best 4X games on PC - 3 April 2018
Welcome to our round up of the best 4X games on PC. Ever since the term '4X' was coined for the original Master of Orion , we’ve been Exploring, Expanding, Exploiting, and Exterminating our way through fantasy, history, and the depths of space. The genre has seen something of a renaissance in the last half decade, and while it’s great to have options, there’s also a lot to sort through.  Not every 4X game is for everyone, so we’ve taken a look at all the major players to enter the stage in recent years and why you might, or might not, want to play them. Dominions 5 Let's start with an unusual one. Dominions 5 is a 4X game about warring gods and their fantastical armies. You start by designing your deity, which could be a raging dragon or a mystical inanimate rock. Turn by turn you muster armies, recruit wizards to research apocalyptic magi…
- Playing as mob-run Las Vegas in Civilization V - 6 September 2015
The great civilization of Las Vegas didn't make it out of the Medieval Era, when it was sacked by Assyria. We built some casinos and we had some fun, but I guess the world just wasn't ready for high stakes Pai Gow Poker. Hell, we'd only just invented currency. I played this brief, poorly-executed game of Civilization V to try out Octoski's Las Vegas , a mod which adds a single-city Las Vegas civilization run by infamous mafia man Bugsy Siegel. Vegas can't build Wonders, but just like the real Las Vegas, it can build replicas of other people's Wonders and stuff them with slot machines and buffets. Each 'Casino Wonder' provides a Great Work slot, +2 Happiness, +1 Culture, and +1 Gold. The rules deviate a bit from real world casinos, which provide -10 Happiness to visitors and +All of Their Gold to MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corporation. But it's a game, so, you kn…
- Ranking the best and worst of the Civilization series - 14 August 2015
survey fridays In this new column, we ask you to rank and reminisce about PC gaming's biggest series. Look for the survey link in our Twitter and Facebook feeds each week, and the results every Friday. Previously, we ranked the Mass Effect and Call of Duty series. I remember there being a lot of anger when Civilization V launched. It just wasn't Civ IV, the glorious, glorious Civ IV. But a few expansions (and a lot of mods) later, has public opinion changed? With the help of a thousand-plus survey respondents, I ventured to find out. First, some caveats. I left out Alpha Centauri, because A) it dropped the Civilization name and B) it isn't fair to put a horse in a toddler race. Though I would love to see a horse absolutely smoke a bunch of dumb toddlers, who can barely walk, never mind run. It's a funny picture. Anyway, I also left out any game not in the main Microprose and Firaxis ser…
- PC Gamer Show: Sid Meier talks Civilization, Starships, VR - 13 March 2015
It's Sid Meier's PC Gamer Show! In this special extended episode, the legendary strategy designer stops by to talk about the history of the Civilization series, what's up with his new game Starships, modding, the future of strategy in VR, and what it takes for a game to earn the "Sid Meier's" title. Gosh, he sure is nice. As usual, we answer your questions at the end of the episode. To ask us a question for next week's show, tweet @pcgamer with the hashtag #AskPCGamer.
- 42 AI civilizations are fighting it out inside Civ 5 - 26 February 2015
You would think 42 AI civilizations fighting for world domination would be hard to ignore, and yet it's been going on for almost a week and I'm only just now posting about it. Fortunately for all humankind, those AI nations are trapped inside the game Civilization V. The game is brought to us courtesy of Reddit's r/Civ community —specifically the user "TPangolin", who has organised what they're calling the Battle Royale. An excerpt: " Speaking of failed states, the Polish war machine looks to be more than happy to grind what is left of the Nazis into the ground whenever possible. Hence why they've focused such a large force to force Neuss into an Anschluss with the greater Polish Empire." The battle is being catalogued via photo diary. Currently there are five parts, taking us through to turn 142. You can find the first part here , and follow the rest over at the Battle Royale's o…
- Civilization 5 is free to play this week - 21 October 2014
That's free to play, not free-to-play—an important distinction. Steam is again playing host to more (temporarily) free goodies, with a midweek trial of Civilization 5 . The offer, which lets you play the full game until Thursday, 10am PDT, will give everyone a chance to experience the unstoppable wrath of Gandhi. This, of course, is designed to prepare people for the upcoming Civilization: Beyond Earth, which has begun pre-loading ahead of this Friday's release. That game bears many similarities to Civ 5, only it's on an alien planet in the future. It is not, for instance, a game in which Genghis Khan can negotiate a beneficial spice deal with Bismarck. Unfortunately, the free trial doesn't include the excellent expansions. Nevertheless, it's worth an investigation if, somehow, you've managed to hold off this long.
- Sid Meier talks strategy, game design and Civ - 8 October 2014
Developers interviewing developers? This will not stand*! Actually this chat between Sid Meier and XCOM: Enemy Unknown designer Jake Solomon is funny and interesting, and a rare chance to see Sid Meier in the wild. Solomon initially tries to establish whether or not Meier is a Canadian spy, and moves on to quiz the Yoda of strategy design on his origins and inspirations. It's particularly charming to hear about the humble origins of Microprose. This anecdote reveals how much the games industry has exploded since the early days of the medium, though tools like Game Maker and Unity have kept this spirit alive. "When people ask me 'how do you become a game designer?' well you just sit down and type a game into your computer and you're a game designer. That's really the way it was back then. I did all the art, the sound, the programming, printed the manuals on my printer and put them in a b…
- Civilization 5 'Brave New World' launch trailer showcases human achievement - 28 June 2013
Civilization 5 's fast-coming Brave New World expansion focuses heavily on the late-game, according to the creators . A new launch trailer highlights that by showcasing several of the world's more recent events, like the advent of movies, tanks, airplanes, and rocket ships. In fact, it gives such a rousing summary of our greatest accomplishments over the last century or so that it's easy to momentarily forget it's advertising a game expansion pack. That's just the kind of opportunity you have when your game is all about human achievement. Check it out below.
- Civilization 5: Brave New World trailer shows off trade routes - 30 May 2013
It's a testament to Civilization 5 's thoughtful, historically-based gameplay that the addition of international trade routes is a major pillar of the upcoming Brave New World expansion. Firaxis has talked quite a bit about the new ideology and cultures , so it's time for trade to have its day in the sun. The revised system is said to help you expand more smoothly and actually pick your own paths to determine your trading partners. A new trailer shows off the feature. Check it out below, and for more detail on the broad scope of Brave New World, read our interview with lead designer Ed Beach and senior producer Dennis Shirk. The expansion drops on July 9.
- Civilization 5: Brave New World trailer delves into new ideologies - 23 May 2013
The Civilization 5: Brave New World is bringing a new ideology system to the game, as well as adding some social policies. A new trailer for the expansion goes into a bit more detail on how these will make it easier to become ruler of the known world. Two new social policy trees have been added: aesthetics, which has a more cultural leaning, and exploration, focusing on discoveries on the high seas. The video also looks at the three ideologies that unlock once you enter the Modern Age. The expansion will be out for PC on July 9.
- Civilization 5: Brave New World adding Indonesia, Morocco - 20 May 2013
Firaxis has announced two more of the nine cultures being added to Civilization 5 's Brave New World expansion. Indonesia and Morocco will join the set, joining Poland, Brazil, Assyria, Zulu, and Portugal, with two civilizations still remaining to be revealed. Morocco is led by Ahmad al-Mansur. It is centered around the new trade route mechanics coming in Brave New World, since they get bonuses to gold and culture for each external trade route from the Gateway to Africa ability. Cavalry is replaced by Berber Cavalry, which gets combat bonuses on home turf or on desert. The Kasbah improvement grants extra defense, food, production, and gold to desert tiles as well.
- Civilization 5 devs on forging a Brave New World - 29 March 2013
Civilization 5 is preparing to reinvent itself, again. The Brave New World expansion, which launches July 9, is going to make serious shifts to the late-game content, revising both the cultural and diplomatic victories. We talked with lead designer Ed Beech and senior producer Dennis Shirk about the expansion's focus and goals. In a way, Brave New World is the other half of Civ 5's last expansion, Gods and Kings. The two are are complementary in the pieces of the game they address--so much so that Brave New World will include many of Gods and Kings' underlying systems for players who didn't buy the first expansion. The second is really meant to work with the first, combining to create a marked shift in the experience. The two said that this is targeted towards late-game, both to make up for the developer not having the chance to address those systems in the first expansion, and to add m…
- Civilization 5 'Brave New World' coming July 9 - 25 March 2013
Civilization 5 is heading into the Brave New World this summer. Firaxis put a pin on a release date during its PAX East panel this weekend, stating it will be available on July 9. Kotaku reported the release date, along with a European date of July 12. As previously reported, the Brave New World expansion has a new cultural victory system that relies on producing masterpieces and finding ruins with archeologists, a revision to the diplomatic victory with the World Congress, along with eight new Wonders, two scenarios, nine civilizations, new units and buildings.
- Civilization 5: Brave New World expansion announced - 15 March 2013
Culture, trade and diplomacy are to become more important in Civilization 5 with Brave New World , the second expansion pack, announced today by publisher 2K Games. Arriving this summer, it'll bring a new culture victory condition, international trade routes, the new World Congress, and heaps more. Overlords will be able to achieve a cultural victory by being the world's dominant culture, exerting a majority influence on every other civilization. To help along this way, you'll be able to place masterpiece works to display in certain buildings, and scour battlegrounds and ruins with archaeologists. If you fancy a diplomatic victory, you'll want to get stuck into the World Congress, where civilizations can vote and pass resolutions on everything from host cities for the World Games to nuclear weapons and sanctioning "rogue nations." Canny folks can trade their votes too. Which leads to tr…
- Civilization V 'Gods and Kings' demo available - 2 July 2012
Civilization V recently got a lot more holy with the Gods and Kings expansion , but some of you fence-sitters haven't yet indulged in abusing religion for your own selfish ambitions. If you're still itching to give your theocracy a try, you'll be happy to know that a demo for the game is now available. You can grab the demo from Steam and give it a try. The expansion adds new civilizations, religion and city-states, new wonders, new scenarios, and espionage. It seems like a pretty hefty chunk of Civ for $29.99, but the the demo is one way to test the waters for yourself.
- Civilization V getting free Steam weekend - 24 May 2012
Civilization V is getting ready for some of that old time religion, also known as polytheism . To mark the Gods and Kings expansion, Firaxis and 2K Games are offering the game as free to play for this weekend, lasting from today until Sunday, May 27. If your taste of ruling over kingdoms tempts you to buy the full game , this weekend is a particularly cheap way to do it. All of the Civilization V content on Steam is 75% off, which means the standard game can be had for $7.49. You could get the Cradle of Civilization downloadable content for $2.49, or the Game of the Year edition with extra maps and civilizations for $12.49. The Gods and Kings expansion is scheduled for June 19 in North America. It will add religion and religious city-states, new diplomacy options with espionage, new scenarios, and a reworked combat system.
- Civilization V Game of the Year Edition announced - 14 September 2011
With Sid Meier's Civilization V just about to celebrate its first birthday, publisher 2K has announced a Game of the Year Edition for Firaxis' historical strategy game. Boasting a whole host of downloadable content, it's slated to launch on September 27. The GotY edition has a sticker price of $49.99, which is fairly respectable considering the included DLC comes to $37.44 by itself. Curiously, it doesn't pack all current Civ V DLC, only most of it. The recent Korea and Wonders of the Ancient World packs , which cost $7.49 together, are both excluded. Here's exactly what's in the box: * Sid Meier's Civilization V (standalone game); * Civilization and Scenario Pack: The Mongols; * Civilization Pack: Babylon; * Cradle of Civilization Map Packs: Mesopotamia, Americas, Asia and Mediterranean; * Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca; * Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesi…
- Daily Filter: August 8, 2011 - 8 August 2011
Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis. Today's Filter features a developer diary for Bodycount , a teaser trailer for Deepak Chopra's Leela , and new screenshots for Sid Meier's Civilization V . Sid Meier's Civilization V Sid Meier's Civilization V (click to open gallery)
- Civilization V Viking DLC dated - 27 April 2011
Two new add-ons for empire-building strategy title Civilization V launch next week. The Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark - The Vikings, and Explorers Map Pack are available for download from 5th May, priced £2.99 each. Vikings content includes the Denmark Civilization for use in-game, plus a new Scenario, 1066: Year of Viking Destiny. You'll rule the world as Harald Bluetooth - that's the amply bearded gentlemen with the dead animal draped stylishly over his shoulder in the new shots below. Meanwhile, the Explorers Map Pack hosts 10 extra single-player landscapes. The press release tells of a balmy Caribbean area, a chilly Bering Strait location, and one cunning map set in the cold, dark interior of an Amazon warehouse - it says "lush jungle" here. They must be mistaken. These latest slices of DLC are at least the fourth set since release. Mongols, Babylonians , Spanish, Incan ,…
