Civilizaton IV:Beyond the Sword.

[Redband]

The 2nd expansion pack for Civ IV (Beyond the Sword) has been announced. It's due out in July 2007, retailing for $29.99.

Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword is the second expansion pack for Civilization IV - the 2005 PC Game of the Year and major commercial success. The expansion will focus on the late-game time periods after the invention of gunpowder and will deliver 12 challenging and decidedly different scenarios created by the development team at Firaxis Games, as well as some esteemed members of the Civilization Fan Community. Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword will also include 10 new civilizations, 16 new leaders, 5 new wonders, and a variety of new units that will offer even more fun and exciting ways for players to expand their civilization's power as they strive for world domination.

To read the Press Release and see some Artwork from it go here.

[Knave]

We purchased this expansion a few months ago. It really adds a lot to the game. It has the Warlords expansion and all current patches on the disk. Game play is a little different. Changes in the A.I. and adjustments in how the U.N. works come to mind. The game has enough variables now to offer a different feel to each game. They don't all feel the same. All this from the same company that brought us Railroads. (tongue in cheek)

[Redband]

Knave, I haven't got BTS yet (as usual I've been waiting for the patch to come out). Patch 3.13 is out plus another (unofficial) patch to fix the errors in the official patch :? . If you want/need either or both they are available here.

[Orange46]

Thanks for telling us that this includes the first expansion. Every place I looked, including the box, did not mention anything about the 1st expansion, so I didn't buy it. The 1st expansion, by itself didn't cause me to want to buy, but with all of the stuff in the 2nd, it's been tempting since I first saw it.
Question: My pc is able to run Civ IV using maximum virtual memory. Do you have any idea if the expansion packs run slower when pushing the limits of the pc? Before increasing my VM, large maps became unplayable in the later years.

[Knave]

I went looking in the read me and the booklet that came with the game. First, I misspoke about BTS having the content of Warlords on the disk. I apologize for that. I read to much into their statement about all patches and updates being included. That much is correct however. The system requirements for BTS are the same as Civ 4, the basic game. I understand the late game issues. I had them as well. These issues didn't happen until the last patch, by the way. That ended with the upgrade to my graphics card. I find myself separated from the computer I normally play on so I can't speak to differences in play between civ 4 and BTS. I am playing with warlords installed as I did buy that expansion. BTS is the one to have if you can't have both. Warlords is not required for BTS to be used. BTS made it a "new " game experience. But I'm easy......

[Ace of Spades]

I was playing a lot of CivIV until recently. I get creamed by the AI no matter what expansion I'm using :( .

[Knave]

I would suggest that you go to a custom game and disable barbarians. Stick with settler difficulty for awhile. We sure did. we seldom play any higher than noble. Sometimes games are more fun than simulations.

[Ace of Spades]

I usually do turn off the barbarians & play on Noble. Most games turn out the same---I get up to first or second place in culture, then some of the smaller civs declare war and gang up on me. Then I usually get frustrated & play something else! They never go to war with each other...just me :x .

[Orange46]

Ace of Spades, I had that problem, of being cultured and then being invaded. Finally, I wised up and started building military units. Keep checking your power ?) rating to make sure it's high, preferably higher than your neighbors. If you have the military, they usually don't attack.

Also, if you really don't want to build lots of strong units, make sure that you have lots of older weak units and lots of cash, or the ability to generate cash quickly. Cash can attract huge demands for tribute, but the ability to generate cash can solve that. Then, when attacked, upgrade units in threatened cities. The meanies will probably still attack, but you should win if you had enough units upgraded. Sometimes you might first lose a city - hopefully it is a new one that isn't critical, and sometimes you may have to reload a few times to get the upgrades right (if that form of cheating doesn't bother you). I try not to go back to more than 1 prior save, but sometimes I get so annoyed at those $%&*^$# aggressors that I'll compromise my princinples until I can destroy them. In a way, the upgrade strategy is a good way to sucker a stronger opponent into attacking you, then turning the tables on them. I think that when you're attacked and win, you seem to keep your friends friendly and don't attract your enemy's friends to attack you, but I could be wrong.

[Orange46]

I finally got to the RFC Mod in Civ IV and find that it brings a whole new game to the table. If anyone is familiar with AH's History of the World, this mod is it. There was a pc game based on that game, but it didn't get very good reviews. I have been playing as India since 3000 BC and find myself just barely hanging on. The mod has many new concepts and treats terrain in a different and more realistic way. Jungles are impassable to most units, but elephants can travel thru them. Further, jungles can't be cleared until you get biology (agent orange?), so my 17th century India has health problems and lots of jungle to contend with. Another new feature is that civs decline and others start up at their historical dates. I was just about to expand into indochina when I noticed that the Kmers had just appeared and started a city. (A turn or more earlier, the game actually asked me if I wanted to stop playing as India and instead start the Kmer civ.) The new civs have up to date technology, so my elephants are having to worry about dutch guns.

This mod seems to be a good historical simulation of the history of the world, and it forces you to play in a way consistent with the civ you control. Although this is a large or huge map, I still only have about 6 cities in SE Asia, as I've had since just before the Kmers came on the scene. I also have one city (Jakarta - and the game accurately named it and spelled it better) on an island, but it revolted and became independent, although a century later I did retake it. (But, should I have?) My civ is listed as unstable (another new concept that the designer feels is the most signicant new idea in the mod), and that led to the revolt in the first place, I think. If I get any more unstable, all my cities could revolt and then I hope I can play as the Americans, who haven't yet appeared.

Beyond the Sword seems to offer enough content to make it seem like Civ V.

[ostlandr]

Going to wait until Civ 5 comes out, then buy the "complete collection" of Civ 4 with all the expansion packs for less than the original game cost.

Played a lot of Civ 2 and 3. I miss the SciFi & Fantasy scenarios from Civ 2.

Among the odd things I have had happen in Civ3:

I was playing as the Americans, and had an island city called Pearl Harbor between me and Tokugawa's Japanese. Somewhere around 1940, Tokugawa launched a sneak attack and took Pearl Harbor. So, I threw all my scientific research into nukes, built a huge fleet, and went after him. Soon as I had enough air bases, I moved two nuclear missiles into position and took out two of his cities, after which he agreed to a cease fire.
Yes, I did- Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In another game, I was playing as the Germans. Just for the heck of it, I was trying to win by conquest. I managed to ally with the Russians, and we teamed up against India. (I was fighting against France on the other flank, too- go figure.) After we took New Delhi (their last city) I turned on the Russians, and my elite Panzer units (including Rommel's VII Panzer army- love armies in Civ 3) tore them up- for awhile. Russia was HUGE on that map, and they were outproducing me in arms and men big-time. My generals failed me! My advisors failed me!

[Redband]

Going to wait until Civ 5 comes out, then buy the "complete collection" of Civ 4 with all the expansion packs for less than the original game cost.

Extract from an interview with Sid Meier on GameDaily (June 9th, 2008)

9. You've confirmed that there will be a Civilization 5 for the PC.

SM. That's news to me! I'm not sure where you would have heard that, but the truth is that we haven't confirmed that there will be a Civ V. We've just finished Civ Revolution and are making decisions now on what's next for the Firaxis teams. We'll get back to you with more information in the near future.

If anyone wants the complete set of Civ IV then 'Civilization IV Complete' contains CIv IV; Warlords Exp Pack & BTS Exp Pack. Available for $44.99 :-

http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/ci4co.html

If anyone in the UK is also waiting for this then here it is (currently £15.48 from Amazon UK).
Civilization IV: Complete


There is a new patch (3.17) available for BTS. There is also an unofficial patch (again) to fix the official patch.

Both patches are availableHERE

[ostlandr]

Thanks for the update!

Going to wait until Civ 5 comes out, then buy the "complete collection" of Civ 4 with all the expansion packs for less than the original game cost.

Extract from an interview with Sid Meier on GameDaily (June 9th, 2008)

9. You've confirmed that there will be a Civilization 5 for the PC.

SM. That's news to me! I'm not sure where you would have heard that, but the truth is that we haven't confirmed that there will be a Civ V. We've just finished Civ Revolution and are making decisions now on what's next for the Firaxis teams. We'll get back to you with more information in the near future.

If anyone wants the complete set of Civ IV then 'Civilization IV Complete' contains CIv IV; Warlords Exp Pack & BTS Exp Pack. Available for $44.99 :-

http://yhst-12000246778232.stores.yahoo.net/ci4co.html

If anyone in the UK is also waiting for this then here it is (currently £15.48 from Amazon UK).
Civilization IV: Complete


There is a new patch (3.17) available for BTS. There is also an unofficial patch (again) to fix the official patch.

Both patches are availableHERE

[Orange46]

ostlander: I did what you want to do for civ2 and 3, but I bought civ4 right away, because of the reviews. Civ IV is really worth it. You won't want to play the other civs again (my nephew waited until late last year to get IV and now only wants to play civ IV). And, I got a bonus, by buying each add on separately - it was like getting a new game each time, so I've actually played 3 great civ IV games. If I had bought it all at once, I would have missed playing the earlier versions and lost the fun of getting new stuff and new strategies. Howwever, I should note that I usually wait for game prices to go down. The only exception to this rule has been RT3 and Civ 4, although I waited to buy the expansions until they got cheaper -mostly because I hadn't finished playing the version I already had.

In my opinion, civ 1 was great but had some tedium problems, civ 2 was an improvement but kept the tedium, ditto for civ 3, while civ 4 got rid of the tedium, has a GREAT graphics upgrade, and lots of new stuff, Warlords changed my strategies and was a nice cheap upgrade, and BtS is like a whole new game, with the Rhy's of Civ scenario a game unto itself (I'm still alive as India in Rhy's, and I am in the middle of the pack point wise with 70 turns to go. My goal is to be alive at the end of the game, then my only problem is, do I play again as another civ, try the Mesoamerica scenario, or play BB Mogul 2008, which I just received for $8 incl. ultra cheap shipping (USPS).

I wish I could trust Sid more, but because of Railroads (which I bought for full price (dumb), I'll await the reviews for Colonies and probably wait for a sale, even if the reviews are good. (I still have stuff to do in BtS.)

PS: Redband: Thanks for the patch notice,