Civ4 GOTM 1 - Start save is released

The first Game of the Month for Civ IV was opened a few days ago, after the 1.09 patch was released. It features the Romans on Noble difficulty, and we have already had over 50 submissions.

Click here to go to the game release page.

Click here for the pre-game discussions.

Here's the start. Click it to see a larger version.

Conquests Game of the Month 19 - Netherlands - Sid ! ! !



Karasu's progression up the difficulty scale culminates with this month's Sid game featuring the Dutch in an archipelago world.

As you play as the Dutch, will you be able to rise to sustain the Netherlands as a powerful empire? Will you develop as a major trading empire, buying protection with the value of the gold coin? Will your navy banish all those that near her waters?

Click here for the game release page, where you can download the starting save file.

Click here for the pre-game discussion thread.

Good luck ! ! !

Planet Civilization has some nice info and pictures directly from last Friday's Sid Meier & Soren Johnson signing event in London.

In an interview on the same day, Soren Johnson mentioned that Firaxis plans to release additional scenarios for Civilization IV. �We have a few scenarios which we are about to release on magazine cover discs, such as an Alexander the Great scenario.� He didn't say when they will be released or if they will also be available for download.

They have also posted an article regarding the event, written by Thamis. Included with the article is a gallery of 21 pictures from the signing event. (Be warned though: most of those pics are 3 to 5 MB in size!). Below is an excerpt:

The stars are neither the controversial Madonna, nor the sexy Leonardo DiCaprio � the stars are Sid Meier, the mind behind the Civilization series, and Soren Johnson, the Lead Designer of the latest game in the series: Civilization IV. The two men who everyone has been waiting for finally appear, yet there are no screams of hormone-heavy teenagers, but simply an anticipating commotion accompanied by flashes from the photographers' cameras. Sid Meier and Soren Johnson step onto the stage, followed by Julius Caesar, Hatshepsut, Queen Isabella, and Napoleon � actors, of course. They are dwarfed by their own game, which is shown on a super-sized screen in the background.

Lastly, they promised that an audio interview with Soren Johnson and its transcript will be posted soon.

The previous new Civ3 files announcement was made more than two week's ago, sorry for the delay. We are getting fewer new Civ3 files due to Civ4's release, and from now on a bi-weekly announcement for Civ3 files might be better...

This week's featured Civ3 file is a naval unit called the "Deathburner" created by Orthanc. It's pretty strange looking.

• UNIT: Deathburner by Orthanc
  
• UNIT: Khaat by Orthanc
  
• UNIT: Stryker ICV (M1126) by Bjornlo
  
• UNIT: Battlestar Galactica by Flamand
  
• GRAPHICS: Stryker ICV (M1126) Title Screen by Bjornlo
  
• GRAPHICS: Star Wars Advisors (Han Solo, Yoda, Padme) by Chris85
  
• SCENARIO: The Classic Maya v0.7 by The Last Conformist

We hope to start a weekly new Civ4 files announcement in the near future. In our Civ4 Creation & Customization file forums, there are already a good number of Civ4 files. Supa, for example, has made a Tiger and a Lioness animal units.

Happy downloading!

Note: If you would like your new or updated Civ3 file(s) included in this weekly announcement, please visit this thread for details.

>> Civilization III Downloads

A few more Civ4 reviews...

• gameSlave's Civ4 Review: (no rating given)
  "Regulars of the series will love the new features in Civilization IV yet feel at home with the interface and general feel of the game. Newcomers may find it tricky to start and might find the tutorial still leaves them in limbo, however the rewards for persevering and dominating your opponents or having them agree to your terms is second to none! Civ fans of old and indeed any RTS fans in general simply must buy this game. In short, this is the best Civ game yet."
  
  
• AceGamez: 9 out of 10
  "Civilization IV is a game that you will return to over and over again, for a long time to come, and it's a welcome change from the masses of throwaway sequels that have been released recently. The game sticks to its roots but has dropped the dead leaves and found some new flowers to make a big enough change for it to be inviting to both newcomers and long-time fans of the series. The fact that you can wage nuclear war on savages may seem a little non-chivalric, but since when was chivalry an element of world domination? As the song says, everybody wants to rule the world - and thanks to Civilization IV, achieving that goal has never been such a varied and enjoyable experience. "
  
  
• Games Xtreme: 9.2 out of 10
  "Overall CIV 4 is an enjoyable experience, which fans of the series will love; even the die-hards love it, which can sometimes be a problem when an established and successful title gets a revamp. It seems Sid and his team hit all the right nails on their respective heads. "
  
  
• Magazine: Atomic Magazine (Australia): 10/10

>> Civilization 4 Articles Collection

On Monday fellow fan site Apolyton posted the third and final part of its audio interview with Soren Johnson, Civ4 Lead Designer. This part is 48m:23s long and is available for streaming on demand in MP3 format. The file size is 23.2 MB.

The v1.09 patch for the Direct2Drive version of Civilization IV is now available. If you have the D2D version, you can get the patch from D2D's website or from 3D Downloads. The patch size is 10.67 MB.

There is a nice video on German TV with Sid Meier showing Civilization IV. You can see it here. the video is available in Windows Media and Real Video formats.

Thanks to ColdFever of civilized.de for the news tip.

Inside Higher Ed has published an article titled "Not Just Child�s Play" written by David Epstein, looking at the growing trend of using Civilization III in college history courses. The author interviewed five professors who have used the game in their classes. Below is an excerpt from the article:

Several of the professors who used video games reported waiting lists for their courses, and McMichael says that more men than women began flocking to his class once he began using Civ3. Creasman says that, if professors can find useful ways to incorporate some other wildly popular games into the classroom, like the first person adventure game Halo, which has a lot of shooting and no history, �you�d be the coolest professor in town.� McMichael wasn�t so sure. �I found that for students, homework is homework,� he says. �They b*tched about [Civ3] as much as they do about reading.�

One thing the article mentioned is the number of college courses that use Civ3 is not known, but the profesors interviewed guessed there are "at least dozens".

I wonder if any of our visitors are currently enrolled in a class that uses Civilization III... Reply in the comments if you are.

Thanks to Scott Jaschik, editor of Inside Higher Ed, for the info.

>> Read the article

Eurogamer has posted an interview article by Patrick Garratt with Sid Meier while he and Soren Johnson were on their last Civilization IV promotional tour stop in London. Much was covered in the interview, ranging from Firaxis' merging with Take-Two Interactive to discussing what's next for Firaxis Games (and a whole lot more in between the two):

He's a Civilized man, Sid Meier. What's next for Firaxis?

"We certainly have some new things in mind that we're starting to work on," he says, the wry, sloping look creeping back. "We're certainly more and more interested in broadening to become both a PC and a console developer. Our relationship with Take-Two allows us to do that. They have a lot of resources and knowledge in that area for us to draw upon. I think that we'll continue to do the kind of games that we like to do, whether they're strategic or action-orientated. We're not looking at any radical changes: just to expand Firaxis gaming to take over the world."

Enjoy!

>> A Civilized man

SGOTM8 Hydrophobic American Conquest - Results and Congratulations.

In spite of not even being allowed to dip an oar in the ocean, our gallant finishers all managed to conquer the world. Only team Bede failed to finish this longer game.

You made some awesome efforts to find ways to cross the seas before Advanced Flight. Trans-continental evictions were found not to work, but gifting and recapturing cities seemed to be the most successful, allowing you to convince the AI to surrender toe-holds on the other land masses. Xteam succeeded in completing the task without any flight capability, while others made maximum use of the technology tree, some throwing nukes around at the end.

Teams klarius and Durkz proved to be the most successful exponents of the dark arts this time, and these teams win the Crimson and Gold shields for fastest finishes in the C3C and Classic divisions. Obormot had the latest finish and the lowest score, making them the undisputed Wooden Spoon stirrers this time around.

Please join me in the Results thread to congratulate everyone who participated, and to wish good fortune to everyone reaching for the Star of India in SGOTM 9.

Full results and detailed stats are available here

Well, I like close competitions - and again, I wasn't disappointed! A trivial 4 points separated second and third - and first wasn't much further ahead!

Given the low difficulty, the major hurdle in this game was overcoming an agressive, powerful neighbour before he could do too much damage - after that, most of the other AIs could be rolled-over fairly quickly (especially after stealing Xerxes' lands for your own!)

EsatP proved to be the best at this - winning by conquest in 650 AD. A few turns later, Klarius just edged-out Xevious - but there was really nothing in it (domination vs conquest being the only material difference).

Summary of Medal Winners:

EsatP: 650 AD Conquest Victory, 10,624 points.

klarius: 710 AD Conquest Victory, 10,500 points.

Xevious: 710 AD Domination Victory, 10,496 points.

>> See the full results here.
>> See the QSC results here.
>> See the updated global rankings here.
>> See the latest Pantheon of Heroes here.
>> Make sure to congratulate the winners in the forums here.

Forum member LAnkou was fortunate enough to have been able to attend the Q&A; (and game-signing!) event in Paris, France held by Sid Meier and Soren Johnson. That said, LAnkou was also able to do a report on the whole event, which we have posted in our Civilization IV Articles section.

Regarding the Q&A; session, questions will range from technical issues, to victory styles and warmongering.

People: In Civ III, it was really frustrating to need searching technologies that provides nothing. How does it go with Civ IV?

Sid: We changed a lot of the technology tree. There are no more eras that prevent you from searching more advanced technologies, you may need only one technology to get to another (instead of two)...the tech tree is really much more interesting now and a scientific game style is much more possible than it was in Civ3.

>> Read the full report
>> Related forum thread

Good news, Macintosh users! The Civilization III Complete Edition for the Mac is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The package contains the original Civilization III and the two expansion packs: Play the World and Conquests. The price is $44.99 and it will come out on December 14, 2005. It's available in DVD-Rom fomat.

It was confirmed last month that a Mac version of Civilization IV is in the work at Aspyr Media and should come out early next year.

ColdFever has released a new version of Blue Marble Terrain and also updated the Graphics Scaling tool to work with Civ4 v1.09.

The "Blue Marble" terrain mod has been updated to V1.02. It includes an installation correction for problematic Civ4 installations and subtle color corrections according to frequent demand: terrain slightly brighter, plains slightly more yellowish and a little more versatilty in brightness graduations of jungle plants. The attached graphic scaling tool now is compatible with Civ-Patch V1.09.

>> Download Blue Marble
>> Related forum thread

Reminder for UK Civ fans: Sid Meier and Soren Johnson will be making an appearance at the HMV superstore on 150 Oxford Street in London tomorrow where they will be signing copies of Civilization IV and answering questions. The event will commence at 1:00 PM and will continue until around 3:00 PM. Nearest tube stations: Oxford Circus and Tottenham Court Road.

By the way, some of our members met Sid and Soren at the Paris FNAC event and there is a thread about it on the forum.

The NPD Group has released their latest PC game sales report for the week of November 6 - November 12. Civ4 sales rank dropped one place from the previous report, to second place.

1. Age Of Empires III � Microsoft
2. Civilization IV � 2K Games
3. Call Of Duty 2 � Activision
4. Star Wars Battlefront II � LucasArts
5. The Sims 2 Nightlife � Electronic Arts
6. The Sims 2 � Electronic Arts
7. World Of Warcraft � VU Games
8. City Of Villains � NCsoft
9. Battlefield 2 � Electronic Arts
10. The Movies � Activision

Civilization IV is on sale at Amazon.com, for $44.99, $5 off the regular price. It's amazing that they still seem to have the Special Edition in stock.

The game is also on sale at Amazon.de, for EUR 39.95. It was EUR 47.90 before. On Amazon UK, the price remains at �19.99.

That's right! The patch we've been waiting for has been released. Anyone who has the game can download it via the main menu screen (Advanced > Check for Updates). The file has not been posted on 2K's support section or on the official Civilization IV website yet. However, you may download the patch from the servers below if you are having trouble downloading it otherwise. Note that its size is 23.68 MB. The patch is for all language versions.

Download Mirrors: FileFront | 3D Downloads | CivFanatics | FileShack | Firaxis.com

More mirrors will be posted as they become available.

NOTE: This patch will not work for the Direct2Drive version of Civ4. They will release a separate patch for it.

Here are the patch's changes/additions/fixes list:

Changes:

- increased cost of Apollo Program...
- increased SS parts cost...
- Animal Husbandry reveals Horses
- tweaked Rifling, Chemistry, Steel, and Railroad tech costs...
- increased late-game tech costs...
- can now add two specialists in size 1 city with Mercantilism...
- final score is now modified by difficulty level...
- Speed up load times
- Global performance enhancements

Added:

- Include WB map size in the description field
- Save login name
- Added password encryption
- Added regenerate Map Button to World builder Map Mode...
- checkbox for using low resolution textures
- more logging for init failure
- minspec / video memory checking
- Added ability to change to and from fullscreen while in-game
- holding "shift" during startup will clean out the cache
- improved bink playback, added ini options

Fixes:

- ATI issue Failed to Init Renderer Fixed
- Multiplayer Lobby list jump problem and lobby crash fixed
- fixed war weariness calculation bug...
- units maintain their name when upgraded
- fixed Gold-for-Gold diplo exploit...
- fixed no research choice overflow exploit...
- Fix for voice initialization crash
- Fix addressing takeover AI and retirement OOS.
- Fixed issue with diplomacy text being always used in its first form in the translator.
- Popups, screens, and diplomacy properly cleared when exiting from main menu.
- Games protected by admin passwords (only) cannot be loaded if the version is different from the one that created the save
- Fixed bug where player could not offer any deal to other human in PBEM/Hotseat
- Sorting by date on domestic advisor now works.
- fixed bug where settlers could not move if the strategy layer was selected
- fixed Ironworks...
- fixed AI units not obeying open borders rules on declaration of war...
- fixed bug that prevent placing of units in world-builder
- fixed bug that prevented gifting of units to a human player
- stack attack infinite loop fixed
- Civic screen update fix (wasn�t showing the right maintenance and anarchy values)
- ctrl-g crash fix, optimized city bar art
- fixed right-click menu crash
- Intro movie crashing problems

Happy Civing, and Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!

>> Discussion Thread

The Civilization IV demo is now availale for download. The file size is 314.27 MB and it allows you to play 100 turns, as either: India, Rome, Inca, or Greece. Another limitation is the tech tree ends at Divine Right.

You can download it from a download mirror below:

3D Downloads | FilePlanet | GamersHell

... and they all rated Civ4 very highly (surprised!!!).

• UGO.com: A-
  "The franchise looked like it needed some serious fixing after Civ III, and with a few adjustments, it looks like Firaxis has done the job. Whatever problems I had with this game, I still spent hours and hours playing it, beyond the time I would have needed to write a review. That addictive, just-one-more-turn element was one of the key factors in making Civ II my all-time favorite title, and while Civ IV hasn't surpassed its predecessor entirely, it's still a welcome return to form."
  
  
• GameZone: 9.6 out of 10
  "This is a must-have game for any strategy enthusiast, even if he or she is a die-hard RTS player. The game offers a deep, rich and fulfilling play experience that will last for many months. Besides all the things to do in the game, it looks and sounds wonderful, too. And above all, it�s fun and addictive. A superb achievement from the team at Firaxis."
  
  
• Jolt Online Gaming: 9.5 out of 10
  "It�s hard to describe every facet of Civ IV�s gameplay without writing an epic, but suffice it to say, this is everything Civilization fans could hope for. It is easy to get into and hard to put down, and offers an extremely high replay value. Whether you are a veteran of previous Civilization games, or new to the genre, then Civilization IV is a must-have game. Just be careful to ration yourself, however, since it is dangerously addictive and can swallow up days at a time. Civilization IV is just that damned good."
  
  
• Lawrence: 96% A
  "I was concerned, to say the least, when I learned of Sid's desire to re-invent the franchise. After all, �If it ain't broke, don't fix it� right? Well, Civilization may not have been broken prior to Civ IV but I sure can't complain about how they went about fixing it. There is a reason why Sid Meier likes to attach his name to his products in such a bold way and by now we should all know why. Truly, �Sid Meier's Civilization IV� is yet another masterpiece that will stand the test of time."
  
  
• The Games Hot Spot: 9 out of 10
  "While many people that are not able to play are understandably upset, I�m happily ignoring the bugs because the game is simply -that- good. I suspect that Sid figured out how to convert crack into a digital format and calling it Civ 4, thereby hooking poor gamers like me with no hope of escape."
  

For a complete list of Civ4 reviews and articles, visit our Civ4 Articles section.