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Civilization: Beyond Earth for Mac is still on the way, just delayed
Yesterday we ran a story announcing that the Mac version of Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth has been postponed for an indefinite, or undetermined, amount of time. We have since reached out to a source working on the Mac version of Beyond Earth for a comment on the story. While they cannot give a hard release date yet, they want readers and Mac fans to know that the title is still on the way. In their words, "coming soon really does mean coming soon." A release date for the Mac version of the title will be announced sometime in the near future. We'll let you know as soon as the information becomes available.
Updated: Civilization: Beyond Earth for Mac has been postponed indefinitely
Update: We reached out to a source working on the Mac version of Civilization: Beyond Earth for a comment on this story. While they cannot give us a hard release date yet they want readers to know that "coming soon" really does mean coming soon. The Mac version won't be available in October, but expect it to follow close behind. Some readers were bothered by our use of the word "indefinitely" in the headline of this story due to their interpretation of the word's definition. Indefinitely means for an unlimited or unspecified amount of time, not postponed entirely. Given the title had been pushed back with no new release date we felt the word was appropriate. This was a case of using a word's traditional meaning, not being sensational. We apologize for any confusion. You can read our original post below. When Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth was announced in April, Apple users rejoiced in the news that the game would be hitting Macs and PCs at the same time. Now with the game's release coming up on October 24, it appears that promise is a thing of the past. The development team at Firaxis, a division of 2K games, has updated the title's page on their website to mention that the Mac and Linux versions of the games have been delayed. Hopefully the delay won't last too long. Civilization: Beyond Earth was originally reported to be in development across all three platforms at the same time. You can watch some new gameplay footage from the title below. Thanks to Twitter user hwojtek for the tip.
Civilization: Beyond Earth trades pre-orders for exoplanets
Accepting your late-night Civilization: Beyond Earth fate before the game launches on PC is beneficial, depending on your perspective: A post on Civilization's official site notes that pre-orders for both physical and digital copies of Beyond Earth will be rewarded with The Exoplanets Map Pack, a six-planet offering that uses scripts to randomly generate geography and is "inspired by real exoplanets." Green Man Gaming shoppers can sweeten the pre-order deal further though: Siliconera has spotted a 25 percent discount code (01S6ZC-JVSB28-JRW7X4), knocking the price for Beyond Earth down to $37.50 for anyone who orders before August 29. If you'd like a glimpse of the game in action, News Content Director Alexander Sliwinski interviewed Firaxis Games' Pete Murray on camera after previewing the game at E3. [Image: 2K]
Civilization: Beyond Earth ships October 24th with maps based on real planets
If you're eager to play the first Civilization game set in space (not counting Alpha Centauri), you now have a date to mark on your calendar: Beyond Earth will reach Windows-based PCs on October 24th. That's a long time to wait, although Firaxis is sweetening the pot with astronomy-themed bonus content. If you pre-order the space colonization game from certain stores, you'll get a map pack based loosely on real, potentially inhabitable exoplanets like Kepler 186f and Rigil Khantoris (aka Rigel Kentaurus) Bb. It's hard to say if the extra terrain will be worth plunking down cash in advance, but we suspect that you've already pulled the trigger if you're a die-hard Civ fan -- this is just icing on the extraterrestrial cake.
Civilization: Beyond Earth enters orbit on October 24
Civilization: Beyond Earth will launch October 24, Firaxis Games announced today. Those that preorder the PC game will receive the Exoplanets Map Pack at launch, which features six maps that were inspired by real exoplanets, such as the Earth-like, forest-filled Kepler 186f, the arid Rigil Khantoris B and Tau Ceti d, a "planet of seas and archipelagos" that has a "wealth of resources." Beyond Earth was first announced at PAX East in April, and breaks free from history by having its roots in space exploration. The game is deemed a spiritual successor to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, as Firaxis Games discussed with Joystiq at E3 last month. It's also inspired by sci-fi authors such as Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. [Image: 2K Games]
Get a feel for Civilization Online with this beta video
The first round of closed beta testing for Civilization Online has wrapped up in Korea, and the folks at XLGAMES have put together a video showing off this online spin-off from the classic strategy series. The nine-minute video shows the collaborative efforts to build up a town and the equally collaborative efforts by enemy forces to destroy it. Also there are Dalek tanks, hot air balloons, and large mosh pits of Roman citizens. See for yourself after the break!
Civilization Online review rounds out with combat and replay
Looking at Civilization Online with longing might not be a great idea, as there are currently no plans for a release here in North America, but Steparu has been reviewing the beta, and if you'd like to find out what it's about the last part is available now. This final portion covers the game's combat mechanics, how players can get into games in progress, and gives an overall assessment of how the game is shaping up through testing. While the combat in the game is fairly standard -- tab-targeting, hotbars, and WASD movement rule the day -- it does offer players a variety of options with both main and sub classes, along with a variety of vehicles and mounts that have their own combat uses. Overall, the game gets pretty high marks as what it's meant to be, a very PvP-focused game that sees factions warring for dominance again and again. Which is probably what you expected from the name, really.
Civ Online review looks at building, PvP, and more
Steparu's back with part deux of an ongoing Civilization Online review. There's a lot to digest this time around, including bits about progression, the building and card systems, era changes, and realm-vs.-realm PvP. The review contains a good amount of video content, too, and we've included a seven-minute clip focused on building after the cut.
2K Games tries to save Civilization, Borderlands from GameSpy server shutdown
Gamespy's impending server shut-down might be cutting off Wii and DS multiplayer at the head, but not all games have to suffer this fate: PC publishers are starting to migrate their multiplayer servers to new platforms. Three of EA's Battlefield games are already slated for transition, and now, so are two of 2K Games' biggest franchises: Civilization and Borderlands. On May 31st, Civilization III, IV (and their expansions) and the PC version of Borderlands will all begin transitioning to Steamworks, temporarily disrupting online services for a few days.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth coming to Mac this year
Sid Meier's Civilization series has sold millions of copies and inspired countless sleepless nights from addicted players. Over the course of five titles the series has allowed players to experience building the greatest empires in the history of the planet Earth. This Fall Civilization will leave the planet for the first time with Beyond Earth, a new beginning for the series. Best of all, Mac users will be getting the game at the same time as Linux and Windows. So far only a few screen shots have been released showcasing game play, but a trailer has been posted which you can view below. Players will be able to play in the world of Civilization for the first time without the series' famous interplay between real life historical characteristics. In an interview with Polygon Lena Brenk, one of the game's producers, said they hope not being able to draw on history will expand how the game is played. "If you think about it," Brenk said, "in Civ historically, it's similar. The player has the reference of history and [can] fill in the gaps with their imagination and what their play style looks like. They know the rough outlines. They probably are not all historians. They probably don't all know the specifics and details, but they know the rough outline of what happened with Genghis Khan or who he was. "We're trying to provide something very similar, except here for the future, where we give rough outlines and the player fills in the gaps with their imagination because that will really be the place that they remember: the choices they made and how that impacted their playthrough. A hard release date for the title has not been announced. We'll update you when more information becomes available. In the meantime watch the game's trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments.
Sid Meier's latest Civilization game reaches for the stars
If you were worried that legendary game developer Sid Meier wouldn't get his chance to make a new Alpha Centauri, it's time to put those fears to bed. Civilization: Beyond Earth is coming this fall, and, as the name suggests, it takes the venerable PC strategy series to the stars. As Rock, Paper, Shotgun tells it, publisher Electronic Arts still holds the rights to the Alpha Centauri name (which was a Civ spin-off to start), so this is developer Firaxis' effort at a sequel, sans the actual title. The trailer below doesn't show any game-play, but it paints a simultaneously somber and epic picture of just why humanity has to leave Earth. Joystiq and PC Gamer have meaty features and interviews with info from the dev team, so if you're jonesing for more details on the game's randomly-generated alien planets, be sure to check 'em out.
Civilization: Beyond Earth breaks free from history, heads to the final frontier
When I ask Firaxis lead designer why the studio decided to take the Civilization series to space with Civilization: Beyond Earth – just announced at PAX East – his answer is simple: "Why not?" Designer and programmer Anton Strenger offers a little more meat. "I think that one of the things that space allows us to do as designers, and for the artists as well, is to get free from a historical context." Civilization has always been tied to human history, but Beyond Earth allows it to branch out in a fresh new direction (even if that direction isn't completely new to Firaxis). "We, as designers, were free to come up with really fun new gameplay systems that didn't really make sense in a more historical game, or even like a fantasy game." Specifically, Strenger mentions one of Beyond Earth's new tactical elements, the orbital layer, which allows players to launch satellites over a planet, influencing the events below. Firaxis' artists had a field day creating satellite designs, says Strenger. Producer Lena Brenk chimes in, "Yeah, that was amazing to see the artists. Usually we have historic reference that they're working from, and right now they get to invent a world, basically, an alien planet in the future." That's not to say, however, that Firaxis is just making everything up. "It's really important to us that the player be able to draw a line of plausibility through the entire experience," says lead designer Will Miller, "we want the suspension of disbelief maintained throughout." Beyond Earth begins around 200 to 250 years in the future, he says, and science-fiction fans will recognize plausible concepts like ships that fly at sub-light speeds and cryogenic stasis. "But where you end up is quite different, so we're going to draw that line from where we are now to these sort of post-human evolutions." You won't be starting NASA from scratch, in other words, but Beyond Earth starts in a believable place: Humanity travels to a new planet. The question is how you choose to master it.
Civilization: Beyond Earth announced, ready to colonize this fall
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth was just announced at developer Firaxis' panel at PAX East. It's not a sequel to Alpha Centauri (those rights are owned by EA), but 2K Games is finally giving fans the spiritual successor to the sci-fi strategy game they've been constantly nagging Firaxis about for over 10 years. The elephant in the room has been tackled right up front at the PAX East panel happening right now. Firaxis' Will Miller, who is co-lead designer on the Beyond Earth project, said, "The heart and soul [of Alpha Centauri] lives at Firaxis. For all the fans of Alpha Centauri, this is the game we've made for you." "The biggest systematic change for Civ 5 is that tech is a web, not a tree," said David McDonough, the other co-lead on the project. "By the end of the game you've got 70 percent of the web." He notes this leads to two cultures having radically different techs, where genetically modified aliens can fight sentient robots. Beyond Earth will have players assembling their cultural identity and craft their colony before exploring their new world. The game will also add a quest system (something very new to the series,) for players to learn more about their new planet. We've got more details here. The game is set to land this fall.
Meet Civilization Online's four civs
XLGAMES announced its four civilizations from Civilization Online today, although sadly the Mole People were absent from this list. The four civilizations are China (led by Qin Shi Huang), Rome (led by Julius Caesar), Egypt (led by Hatshepsut), and Azteca (let by Montezuma). Civilization Online will be going into closed beta testing within the next few months and is slated to launch in Asia in 2014.
Civilization Online is 60% done
XLGAMES' Civilization Online is 60% completed, Jake Song said in a recent interview. Song said that the multiplayer online version of the classic Civilization series is more than halfway done in preparation for its open beta. He also announced that testing should commence in the first half of this year. One interesting tidbit that came out of the interview was a classification of Civilization Online as a more casual spin on the series that won't require as much time invested as the single-player variants. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Civ Online to launch with four civilizations and win conditions
In an interview with 2P, XLGames CEO Jake Song talked a bit about upcoming Civilization Online and delved deeper into how the game will function. Civ Online, which is currently not officially scheduled for a North American release, will go live with four playable civilizations: China, Rome, Egypt, and Aztec. Each civilization controls three starting cities that cannot be conquered; players must strike out on their own to found cities once they have gathered enough resources. Song also revealed four of the game's classes, confirming Engineers, Miners, Soldiers, and Farmers for release. Players will be allowed to change careers if desired, though career-swaps carry risks. Progression requires that players develop skills in order level their characters up. Technology advances will be made based on how players focus their resources. Civilization Online will be different from previous Civ games thanks to its MMO nature. However, Song confirmed that the game will have several win conditions that end the session, such as a player conquering all other civilizations or launching a spaceship. When a player wins, the game starts over with everyone back at square one. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Details of Civilization-based MMORPG emerge, you may not get to play it
Sure, you've controlled minions and vast armies in the Civilization games, but here's your chance to actually be one of those underlings -- at least if you live in South Korea. Civilization Online, announced late last year, is an in-development MMORPG title set in the Civ universe, and Massively has learned some of its finer details from the folks at XL Games and 2K Games (the companies crafting it in CryEngine 3). At the start, players will join one of four societies, and all will have to work together to expand across the sandbox environment and progress through the ages. Unlike most MMOs, there will come a time when one civilization achieves certain goals and effectively "wins," at which point the world will reset. Although combat is a part of the game, societies will also need to research, build and do various other things to become number one, much like the traditional strategy titles. Head to the source link for more info on the specifics, but don't get too excited -- Civilization Online will be launching first in Korea, and there are currently "no plans for a North American release." Not used to things being out of your control, are you?
Civilization Online not currently planned for North America
You might be tremendously excited about Civilization Online right now, especially if you read our interview with Jake Song yesterday. But if you live in North America, it's time to crank that excitement down to a dull interest because XLGAMES and 2K Games are not currently looking at a release in the region. 2K Games PR Manager Brian Roundy delivered the bad news: "Civilization Online is developed by South Korea-based XL Games in partnership with 2K, and will be available first in Korea. No release date has been set. There are no plans for a North American release at this time." This doesn't mean all hope is lost, of course. It might be that the studios are holding their cards close to their chest or that they don't want to commit until they see how it performs in Korea. But if you were camping in front of a retail store (why?) for this release in America, you should probably go home for now.
Massively Exclusive: Jake Song introduces Civilization Online
You might have heard about a little project called Civilization Online, a new MMO in development based on the popular Civilization series of turn-based strategy games. You also might have heard that XL Games CEO Jake Song, of ArcheAge and Lineage fame, is overseeing the project as Executive Producer. But chances are, that's really all you have heard. Until now, that is. We had the opportunity to sit down with Song, XL Games Senior VP Jung Hwan Kim, and Producer Garrett Bittner from 2K Games to get the scoop on the project. Follow along for all the juicy details about building up civilizations in a new open world environment, including crafting, PvP, and more!%Gallery-195539%
Firaxis' Haunted Hollow appears on, disappears from the App Store
There's good news, bad news, and the best news on this one, and I'll give you the good news first. Firaxis' Haunted Hallow appeared on the App Store this morning, which means the game is just about ready for prime time. The free-to-play strategy title was one of my favorite games I got to see at GDC a few months ago. It's a board game, basically, in that you move various monsters around a board trying to claim and conquer space as best you can, though there's a fun house-building mechanic as well, in the way you choose which monsters to summon and fight for you. Firaxis, the creators of Civilization and the recent hit XCOM: Enemy Unknown, are some of the most experienced strategy developers out there, and Haunted Hallow is a free-to-play gift from them straight to the App Store, so it's great to see the game is almost done. The bad news, however, is that while I was writing this post to let you know the game was out, the title has disappeared from the US App Store. It is still available on the New Zealand App Store, so if you want to change your country to download the app from there, you can do that. But presumably this means the app wasn't supposed to be live on the US Store yet, so either there's more testing to be done, or we'll have to wait until this evening, as new App Store titles go official across the world. The best news is that Haunted Hallow is just the beginning. Firaxis has also announced that it's porting XCOM to the iPad in the future, and there are some other, not-yet-announced exciting strategy titles on the way as well. Firaxis has some great things planned for iOS, and this game is only the first. At any rate, Haunted Hallow is almost ready, and that's worth getting excited about. It's free to play (you get a certain number of monsters to start with, and you'll be able to buy more via in-app purchase), so whenever it is ready to download in your region, it'll be a must grab for sure. Update: 2K has confirmed that this was an accidental release. The game will be available worldwide next Thursday, May 2. So we just have a short wait until then!
