civilization
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Hitting the Books: We'd likely have to liquidate Jupiter to build a Dyson Sphere around the Sun
In "The Possibility of Life," science journalist Jaime Green examines humanity's intriguing history of looking to the stars and finding ourselves reflected in them.
A new Civilization game is in development
A new Civilization game is on the way from series developer Firaxis.
'Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time' and 'Ms. Pac-Man' join the Video Game Hall of Fame
This year's other inductees are 'Dance Dance Revolution' and 'Sid Meier's Civilization.'
‘Civilization VI’ will let you befriend barbarians in its next free update
On February 25th, Fraxis will release a free update that will change one of Civilization's oldest and most consistent dynamics.
How to guesstimate the number of alien civilizations in a galaxy
“Before Drake's work, this question would have seemed to be beyond the realm of scientific inquiry,” Westby told Engadget. fp is the fraction of those stars that have planets. fl is the fraction of those planets that actually do develop life at some point.
Even 'Civilization VI' is getting a battle royale mode
Firaxis and 2K are taking an all-too-familiar approach to revitalizing a game: tack on a battle royale mode in a bid to capture the Fortnite crowd. They've released an update to Civilization VI that introduces Red Death, a 12-player competitive mode that grafts battle royale on to a strategy game that was definitely not designed for it. Instead of filling the shoes of a historical political leader, you play as one of numerous post-apocalyptic factions (no nuclear Gandhi, though) determined to get off the planet before a radioactive storm closes in and wipes you out. The basic mechanics remain intact, but your focus is clearly not on advancing society.
Someone made a version of ‘Civilization’ that runs in Microsoft Excel
Do you pine for the classic strategy games of the past? For a time when gameplay was more important than graphics? Are you looking to reproduce the Amiga experience at work, where your company blocks access to everything except Microsoft Office? Then we have good news for you: An enterprising soul has created a version of Civilization which runs in Microsoft Excel.
'Civilization VI' expansion 'Gathering Storm' launches February 14th
Civilization VI is a strategy game with some legs, and we don't just mean its ever-expanding platform support. Firaxis and 2K have revealed that the title's second expansion, Gathering Storm, will reach Windows gamers on February 14th, 2019. Mac and Linux users should get it soon afterward. It's not just adding the usual round of cultures, technologies and units (although there are more of those), either. Rather, Firaxis is changing how the world itself works.
‘Civilization VI’ brings its addictive empire-building to the iPhone
Fans of Civilization VI who want to create an empire while on the go have another option for how to do so -- it's now available on iPhone. There's good news for iPad players, as those who own the turn-based strategy game on the tablet can snag the iPhone version at no extra cost.
'Civilization VI' arrives on the Nintendo Switch November 16th
On November 16th, the latest installment in the popular Civilization video game franchise will launch on the Nintendo Switch. The studio announced (update: in a post that has since been taken offline) that the Switch version of Civilization VI will include the latest updates, including the Vikings scenario and the Poland, Australia and Persia and Macedon civilizations and scenario packs.
Empire-builder 'Civilization VI' comes to the iPad for $30
Usually, playing Civilization on the go means playing one of the cut-down Revolution games. They're fine, but they're not the same thing. You won't have to make that compromise from now on, however. Aspyr Media has released Civilization VI for the iPad -- yes, the whole thing. If you can't stand the thought of waiting to get home before advancing science or invading an empire, you just have to tuck an Apple tablet in your bag. That's no mean feat given how visually and computationally intensive the turn-based strategy game can be.
'Civilization VI' adds Poland to the fray
Civilization VI was rightly lauded as a return to form for Firaxis following the unfortunate diversion that was Beyond Earth. But, as you'd expect from the first iteration of a complex 4X strategy game, things haven't been perfect. An update last month brought DirectX 12 support and a considerable interface upgrade, along with the standard balancing and AI improvements. This month, the game's developers are adding more features, refinements and, for a price, a new civilization to toy with. For full notes on what's new, you can head to Firaxis' website. There's no headline item per se, but the addition of an "Alert" action that lets you sleep units until they see an enemy, and killing the bug that had Great Admirals randomly spawning on top of wonders (making them functionally useless). Rest assured there are plenty of balancing, AI tuning, aesthetic and bug fixes that should add some polish to the game.
'CivilizationEDU' takes the strategy franchise to school
Minecraft isn't the only game headed to the classroom these days. Next fall, CivilizationEDU takes the storied strategy franchise to schools, too. The game "will provide students with the opportunity to think critically and create historical events, consider and evaluate the geographical ramifications of their economic and technological decisions, and to engage in systems thinking and experiment with the causal/correlative relationships between military, technology, political and socioeconomic development," according to a press release.
'Civilization' reinvents itself again this October
It's been a long time coming, but a new Civ, Civilization VI, will hit PC this October. Traditionally Civ games have come every four or five years, but the release of the Beyond Earth spin-off in 2014 and its subsequent Rising Tide expansion appear to have pushed things back a little. So... what's new in Civilization VI? It's early days still, but the short answer appears to be "lots."
Gaming legend Sid Meier auctions his SNES kit for charity (update: not him)
Want a rare piece of video gaming history? We hope you're a quick-draw bidder. Legendary game developer Sid Meier is holding a charity auction for a Super NES developer kit (which is hard to find by itself) used during his MicroProse days. Yes, there's a real chance that you could be using a system that helped build an early console version of Civilization. Don't think that you can just take on some credit card debt to get that nostalgia kick, though. Meier is only selling the kit to trustworthy eBay users with verified PayPal accounts, and bidding starts at $5,999 -- it's worthwhile if you want to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, but you're paying for a lot more than someone's second-hand console. Update 5/7: 2K tells us that it's not Meier selling this system. That doesn't mean this is bogus gear, but it certainly loses some of its luster.
JXE Streams: Boldly exploring space in 'Sid Meier's Starships'
Sid Meier scares the crap out of me. I'm deeply familiar with the famed strategy game creator's resume -- from the history-spanning Civilization series to the high seas simulations in Sid Meier's Pirates! -- but I've only ever played one of his games. The reason I never picked another up after trying Civilization III is that once I started playing I didn't stop for about 36 hours. The man makes a deeply cerebral game but also a deeply addictive one. Let it never be said that I won't try things twice, though! Today on JXE Streams, I'll give into the allure of deep space exploration and play Sid Meier's Starships.
A glance at Civilization Online's robust character creator
Let's cut to the chase: Past the break, we have two videos embedded showing off Civilization Online's character creator, which you can use the next time anyone starts talking about the challenges of body sliders with stylized art. It doesn't take much to see that the characters here are pretty heavily stylized, but despite that, the character creator features a huge array of options, sliders, and details. Many of the creation options are controlled by a grab-and-pull system similar to the one seen in The Sims 4, making adjustments to body dimensions more instinctive. There's no official timeline for when Civilization Online will come to the US, so you'll have to either wait or get familiar with Korean if you want to try this out for yourself.
Civilization Online closed beta trailer features building, battles, and drumming
There's something about a good Civilization trailer that always makes me feel downright nostalgic, and I think that factor is the world music being sung. We've got another trailer in this grand tradition for you to watch today, this one from G-Star covering the upcoming Civilization Online. Civilization Online is currently in Korean closed beta, but from the looks of this video, it's coming along nicely. The trailer shows players working together to construct a bridge over a chasm, build cities, assemble armies, and engage on that most sacred of pre-fight rituals, happy drumming. Check it out after the break!
Watch two hours of Civilization Online unfold
Unless you're in Korea, you don't have much of a chance of getting into the Civilization Online beta test, but at least you can enjoy it vicariously! A beta tester posted over two hours of in-game footage of this MMO strategy hybrid. The video covers a wide gamut from the introductory tutorial to horseback riding to building to sieges. There are also plenty of exciting menus and map screens for you to brush up on your Korean as well! Even without knowing the language, one can get a pretty good handle on how Civ Online looks and plays. The advance peek starts after the break.
Civilization: Beyond Earth review: Buy-in Alpha Centauri
Viewed through the idea that it's a standalone expansion to Sid Meier's Civilization 5, Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth streamlines gameplay in the long-running strategy series to enhance the pace of the historically-strapped franchise. As a spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, however, it's a cut-rate disappointment. Beyond Earth is best described as an epilogue to the events of Civilization 5. Humanity has ruined the planet and must commit itself to starting all over again on another rock and potentially making the same mistakes. And so, various nations make conglomerate factions and shoot for another spherical mass to strategically explore, expand, exploit and exterminate (4X) one another. Why I wish Firaxis had never mentioned Beyond Earth as a spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri is that this game doesn't look like it was given the financial resources to kick off a new franchise. It feels like it had the budget of a Civ 5 expansion, where asset creation went into making a visually interesting game world, but not its overall presentation. The characters are painfully dull and inarticulate. The tech and wonder voiceovers are all done by one person, but in many cases are attributed to faction leaders within the game (who do have their own voices). The experience doesn't feel luxe. Firaxis has been the benchmark in accessible strategy games and it's owned by triple-A publisher Take-Two Interactive, but I've seen stronger production values from independent European competitors.
