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Action-Heavy Version of Civilization Heading to Consoles

Posted by Zonk on Thu Jun 28, 2007 01:21 PM
from the killing-me-softly dept.
Entertainment Games
GameDaily is reporting that Take-Two will be publishing a new Civilization title in Spring of 2008, with a twist. Instead of the traditional strategy gameplay Civilizations Revolution will be an 'action-packed' console game, streamlining the experience for different generation of gamers. They also mention they'll be aiming this game at handheld gamers. "The title will include 16 civilizations, numerous historical leaders to play as or compete against, online play with integrated video and voice chat, more accessible maps, a streamlined time scale for quicker games, and more ... 'Civilization is one of the world's top selling PC game series with more than 8 million units sold, and continues to be recognized as one of the greatest franchises ever created,' added Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. 'We are excited to have Sid Meier getting back to his roots as the game's Lead Designer to carry on its legacy with Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution.'" This seems somewhat similar to EA's decision to offer up a streamlined version of SimCity in their next iteration of the series.
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  • Good idea or not? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ThisIsWhyImHot (1121637) on Thursday June 28 2007, @01:24PM (#19678949)
    I was a big fan of the first two civilization games and the idea of making one that is more action heavy is quite mouth watering. I just hope they don't put too much effort into the action and not enough into the planning and strategy that made the originals so good.

    • Re:Good idea or not? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by spun (1352) <.moc.oohay. .ta. .yranoituloverevol.> on Thursday June 28 2007, @01:31PM (#19679039) Journal
      The Civilization IV: Warlords expansion pack adds quite a bit more action. If I want a military victory, I usually play on epic or marathon speed. Building takes proportionally as long, but you have far more turns to maneuver your armies. I think units are produced slightly quicker as well, so you can have bigger armies. Warlords adds to the 'great people' idea with great generals. Some scenarios are virtually all fighting. For instance, in one, a normal game world is generated, the computer players take 20-60 turns, and then YOU play as the barbarians, bent on destroying civilization.
    • The first 2 were the best. Civ 2 was by far my favorite of the entire series. I wish they could take the game dynamics from 4 and import them into 2 with updated graphics but not overdone as I think they did with the map details in 4.
    • I've loved all Civ's and improvments that have come with new versions. I've played a some Age of Empires, but mostly I'm for strategy genre games. When thinking about action packed CIV, I get this mental image of Defender of the Crown + Risk + CIV. A lot of large scale micromanagements task done to your cities, but once on war with neighbouring region, of you got with your catapult blasting defending cities walls(or castles).

      it would propably take something out of the management side of CIV, but honestly, I

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Bullet-Dodger (630107)

        I've loved all Civ's and improvments that have come with new versions. I've played a some Age of Empires, but mostly I'm for strategy genre games. When thinking about action packed CIV, I get this mental image of Defender of the Crown + Risk + CIV. A lot of large scale micromanagements task done to your cities, but once on war with neighbouring region, of you got with your catapult blasting defending cities walls(or castles).

        it would propably take something out of the management side of CIV, but honestly, I'd like to command my armies to battle field taking world piece by piece RISK style.

        I'll just have to wait what they will produce and hopefully be a happy camper.

        Have you tried Rise of Nations [microsoft.com]? It's like a combination of Age of Empires and Civilization. And, it has the RISK style [microsoft.com] gameplay you describe.

    • Re:Good idea or not? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by DerekLyons (302214) <(moc.liamg) (ta) (retawriaf)> on Thursday June 28 2007, @03:19PM (#19680695) Homepage

      I was a big fan of the first two civilization games and the idea of making one that is more action heavy is quite mouth watering. I just hope they don't put too much effort into the action and not enough into the planning and strategy that made the originals so good.

      I would think that calling them an 'action-packed' game featuring a 'streamlined experience' would be a clue of how faint your hopes are.
    • the idea of making one that is more action heavy is quite mouth watering.

      Oh, so you are part of the coveted drooling console player target demographic then. ...sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

  • Action heavy? (Score:5, Funny)

    by gEvil (beta) (945888) on Thursday June 28 2007, @01:24PM (#19678961)
    Action heavy, huh? So I guess they're planning on using some of their unused Manhunt 2 code in the game?
  • the thing about the addictiveness of civilization is that it is so mentally absorbing, all of the little details. i've often thought civilization would be a great test for alzheimers, because you have to remember so many little short term action lists. as an addict, soon you get stuck in the "just one more turn" mode and... blink, look at that, the sun is rising, it's morning... how'd that happen?

    i'm sure they'll make a great game and that it will sell well, but it will be absolutely nothing like the real civilization game experience except in name alone

    • That may be why (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Sycraft-fu (314770) on Thursday June 28 2007, @02:34PM (#19680001)
      They are doing the "action-heavy" thing. They may have realised that Civ, as it is done on the computer, wouldn't work so well on teh console and thus are using it as a starting point, but changing the gameplay. Sounds like they aren't going for a perfect copy since they know that won't work, and aren't just going to water it down, but rather change it to be suited to the new environment. It'll be interesting to see how well it works.
      • Why wouldn't Civ as done on the PC work on the consoles, it's been done before. I've got the PSone version of Civ II right here. They could even throw in mouse/keyboard support for curmudgeons.

  • This is the worst idea I've heard in my life. I guess people who think are no longer in the video game market, huh? Instead we're stuck with action, action, and participatory anime (RPG's).
    • They're thinking of making a picture based dictionary to cater to this generation too. The sun entry is left blank because it scares them.

    • participatory anime
      Ha! Lovely. I never thought of it before, but that's precisely what JRPGs are.
    • No kidding! You might as well make an FPS out of nethack.
    • Have you heard of "Rise of Nations"? It's similar to an action-heavy version of civilization - it's a different game, but it's still fun.
    • Civilization could be "Action-Heavy" in the administrative sense. It would probably sound like this:

      "Oh my god! I need a another granary! *Beeyoo* *Beeyoo* *Whoosh* *Kachunk* Raising taxes! *Whunk* I can't hold back all the unhappy citizens! More Entertainers! *Ksshh* Aurugh! Too many Entertainers! My city's collapsing! *Krack* No, must... beat... Anarchy!"

      Solomon
      • I guess in your world, people aren't allowed to criticize anything. I would hate to live in your world.

          • I did mention two specific reasons. First, the market is already flooded with action games, and Civilization used to be one of the few exceptions. Second, adding "action" to a game usually entails making it faster-paced, so less thinking will be involved.

            I also criticize you for not carefully reading my post--had you noticed that these ideas were implicit in what I already wrote, I would not have to repeat myself in spelling it out to you.

          • No, what you are talking about is a grade-school book report. I think you need to look up the definition of criticism.

      • Re:"Action-heavy" "Civilization"? (Score:4, Funny)

        by Hatta (162192) on Thursday June 28 2007, @03:36PM (#19680945) Journal
        Tell you what, if you don't like people complaining about it, you don't have to read it.
  • Can a video/computer game jump the shark? As a fan of Civilization all the way back to the first I was disappointed in the 3D version of Civilization IV and now this? I still play Civ III all the time. I guess I'm just old school and will hope for mod packs to the old games to keep advancing the game instead of shrink wrapped options.
    • Can a video/computer game jump the shark?

      Yes: "modifying the next version for the console audience" is, in fact, the computer game equivalent of adding Ted McGinley to your cast. Brace yourselves for "Civilization: Invisible War"!
    • Are you kidding? Jump the shark?!?! The gameplay in civ 4 is way better balanced than civ 3, and much more intuitive. The resource system is better crafted so that lack of oil does not equal late game death, the religion and great leader systems are pure genius, and a lot of the pointless micro-management from earlier versions have been removed.


      If the graphics bother you, just zoom all the way out - everything will look kinda small, but it will display as flat as it ever did.

      • I hate the 3D - it gives me motion sickness. If they would have put the game dynamics of Civ IV into an expansion pack for Civ III I'd probably love it. And BTW I have tried every possible options combination in Civ IV to make it playable for me. I even download patches to see if they make anything better - more playable for myself. Perhaps I do need a shrink, what is so bad about Civ III? I think it's the greatest game of all time.
        • I don't think I'll ever play Civ 3 again -- if I want the classic experience, there's the original, if I want the classic experience with a little bit more, there's Civ 2... but Civ 3 is a big leap from Civ 2, so I fit 3 in with the 'new' Civ experience, but without all the good parts of 4.

          IOW, Civ 3 is entirely superseded by Civ 4, whereas the original and Civ 2 have unique features that might make me play them again. (And have; I played the original Civ for a little while just a few months ago.)

          Though I c
        • Motion sickness? Even after you've turned off most of the animations? Try leaning back away from the monitor. Are you able to play any other 3d games, particularly FPS? I can't imagine living with that susceptibility to motion sickness. You have my sympathy.

  • ...urgh. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by FishWithAHammer (957772) on Thursday June 28 2007, @01:34PM (#19679083)
    I just died a little bit inside when I read this. It's like 'honest politician'--it doesn't work that way!
  • Imagine the outcry if and when this title allows you in first-person gore-mode to hunt down and kill various ethnicities.

    This is worse than "Kill all Haitans" in GTA:VC.
      • I did play Vice City. I own all the GT games including the GB title, and the original two.

        And I'm pretty sure on the Rampage, it said "Kill All Haitians". I could be mistaken however. It is quite assumptive however of you to think I've never played the game when I referenced it pretty clearly.
  • Another example of the "consolification" of once-great PC-game franchises. See also: Deus Ex and Thief. At least Sid Meier is working on it, so it might not completely suck.

    Rob
    • You mean the Xbox port of Deus Ex: Invisible war not the PS2 port of the original, which included mouse/keyboard support. Blame the Xbox, not consoles in general.

  • After Civ 4.5 comes out (aka the Beyond The Sword edition), who cares what crap they throw at the console market? CIV IV BTS is going to the definitive civilization version for years to come on the computer - its hard enough for me to break away from the game with just the crappy Warlord expansion - this new version is going to be like silicon crack.


    Its their loss if they don't think kids can understand this excellently crafted strategy game - but honestly if they're worried about attention span, just make small maps and idiot AI the default options for the console version, and leave it alone. Civ IV is just as intuitive as the original, which plenty of kids played when it came out 15 years ago - and it has pretty graphics to boot - why wouldn't it work on the console?

    • Have you tried Fallen from Heaven mod? Those guys are doing a scenario is BTS but the mod is just amazing. Crashes like all hell, and you still come back for more.
      • I've heard good things about that mod, but I'm waiting for a QA'ed/stable version to come with the expansion. Right now I've just been doing Warlords, with random map generator (continents, islands, fractals, terra), large maps, low oceans, random leader, and regular length. Good fun - and I love the fact that the maps feel "real", but I'm deep into the game before I figure out what kind of map it is - so I still can do exploring without feeling like I know where everything has to be.

    • After Civ 4.5 comes out (aka the Beyond The Sword edition), who cares what crap they throw at the console market? CIV IV BTS is going to the definitive civilization version for years to come on the computer

      I haven't played Civ IV yet (waiting for it to hit the bottom of the bargain bin, I'm cheap) but I have to say that I've probably spent more hours playing Alpha Centauri than any other game. It's still the most compelling title in my collection. So yeah, I'm solidly in the "who cares" camp myself. Not to

      • If you liked the structure of AC, then you'll like the structure of Civ 4. Its got the diplomatic options, it has the mix-and-match civics - the only thing its really missing is the build your own unit options, which it kind of replaces with promotions. Plus it has religion and resources - so its has added gameplay components...
  • it's on the DS. Oh man, that would be addictive - portable civ. It'd be a great deal for Firaxis and Nintendo.
    • Ever play Civ II on the PSone? You'll notice two things, the AI si slooooow, especially as time goes by and the save files are HUGE. The DS version would have to be tuned down, perhaps resembling an enhanced SNES Civilization. Which might not be a bad thing.

      The PSP on the other hand has the horsepower and storage, but lacks the touch screen. The analog nub might serve well as a mouse replacement though.

  • Does anyone remember the absolutely horrible Heroes of Might and Magic:Quest for the DragonBane Staff game that came out on the playstation 2? It removed all the "complicated" mechanics that made the game what it was, even going so far as to restrict the user to a single castle-type. I bought the system specifically so I could play that game, but after an hour of playing I punched my television.

  • Oh no! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dr. Photo (640363) on Thursday June 28 2007, @03:55PM (#19681293) Journal
    It's the end of Civilization as we know it!
  • Total war blends civilization with an RTS - but of course doesn't have the scope of Civ.

    Giving Civilization Total War's 2 modes would be sweet - the normal tile-based strategy game is the main part, but when you have combat, you control your armies like you do in Total War.

  • Just what the Civ series needs (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Digital Vomit (891734) on Friday June 29 2007, @02:31AM (#19686491) Homepage Journal
    Great. Just what the Civ series needs. Civilization V: Attention Deficit Disorder Edition.

    • When has a game maker ever said, "Here is ournew game. It blows, but we made it anyways."

      Does John Romero count?
    • I think my hand would fall off if I needed to use a controller to provide input to a Civ game! My monitor provides more dots than an HD TV and much more sharply at that. I couldn't imagine how cluttered or dumbed-down the UI would need to be on a console.

      Maybe I'm wrong. I am a builder more than a war-monger, tho, and I feel this will simply be another turn-based war game.

      • I couldn't imagine how cluttered or dumbed-down the UI would need to be on a console.


        But it doesn't have to be, there are these things called USB ports, most consoles have them. So they could offer two control schemes, one with the controller and one for folks like you.

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